News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--(Marketwired - March 6, 2015) - BMO Financial Group has published its 2014 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report and Public Accountability Statement (PAS).

The report outlines the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that matter most to our customers, our other stakeholders and our business. The report also includes the Public Accountability Statements for Bank of Montreal, Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corporation and BMO Trust Company, as required under the Canadian Bank Act.

The report can be downloaded at http://www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/corporate-responsibility/our-approach/reporting#esg_pas.

BMO's ESG achievements for 2014 include the following:

• Helped raise approximately $2.8 billion of equity and debt in the capital markets for North American renewable energy mandates
• Maintained its carbon neutral status since 2010
• Maintained ISO 14001 certification for our Environmental Management Systems in two buildings in the Greater Toronto Area
• Provided more than US$701.6 million in loans to support community development in the United States
• Contributed $57.7 million to non-profit organizations across North America
• Nearly 6,700 employees donated 22,000 hours to their communities through bank programs

"For BMO, sustainability means instilling trust and confidence in our customers, operating our business responsibly and considering the social and environmental impacts of our activities," said Simon Fish, General Counsel and Chair, BMO Sustainability Council. "This is how we fulfill our commitment to building stronger and healthier communities wherever we operate."

BMO has earned a position on several key sustainability indices including: Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, Jantzi Social Index, and FTSE4Good Series Index.

BMO is also included on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, Maclean's/Sustainalytics list of the Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations in Canada and Corporate Knights Magazine's Best 50 Corporate Citizens. Additionally, BMO was the highest ranked company by Report on Business' Board Games 2014.

The report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines' Core option, a year ahead of the prescribed transition date. For the third consecutive year, KPMG has provided Limited Assurance on selected data contained in the report.

BMO's 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report, a companion piece to the ESG Report and PAS will be available in June on our website at: www.bmo.com/corporateresponsibility.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services organization based in North America. The bank offers a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers. BMO Financial Group had total assets of approximately $672 billion and more than 47,000 employees at January 31, 2015.